In a world that seems to be filled with anger and discontent, it is easy to concentrate on the negatives in life. I came across a story that is a breath of fresh air. If God lets me live to be the age of this woman, I hope I can leave deposits of joy around me. The following story is so heartwarming.

“Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time,” she said. This story about a ninety-two-year-old woman has been shared over two hundred thousand times. When you read it, I think you will understand why. It all has to do with her attitude.

Here is what Alex Steblowsky wrote about Peggy Jones:

This petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with her hair fashionably coiffed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home yesterday. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet curtains that had been hung on her window.

“I love it,” she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

“Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room …. just wait.”

“That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” she replied. “Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time.” Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged, it is how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It is a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.”

“Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I have stored away, just for this time in my life. She went on to explain, “Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you have put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories.”

And with a smile, she said, “Remember the five simple rules to be happy.”

“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Recently, I listened to a Christian singer being interviewed on national television. The singer was on “pause” from the Christian band of which he was a member. The band gave the reason that the singer’s behavior did not align with biblical values, and this was not the first time he had an issue of this nature.

It appears that in the latest incident, the singer posted a video on social media showing him dancing in a vulgar manner with friends, to a vulgar song that included filthy lyrics. After he was confronted, he immediately took the video down. He wrote an apology about his behavior but removed the apologetic post quickly. He additionally posted “sexy” pictures and said he was proud of his body.

The interviewer asked the singer, “What was the big deal? You are only human? Is there anything wrong with being human?”  His response was, “Right! I’m like, don’t be judging me. I’m a cool guy.”  The audience gave thunderous applause, and the singer laughed heartily.

The most misused scripture these days seems to be from Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Oh how it is taken out of context and misinterpreted! “Well, the deacon cheated on his wife, but who am I to judge? The pastor was caught drunk and in a compromising position with another person, but who am I to judge?“

We often use this verse as a trump card. “Don’t judge me for my mistakes… otherwise Jesus will judge you.” This verse often becomes a justification of wrong actions. If “judge not lest ye be judged” means that Christians are to never offer any moral assessment, to never call out bad or good, then we are in trouble. Jesus contradicts that way of thinking many times, especially in the Sermon on the Mount, which is the context of these words of Jesus. In fact, we are told in other scriptures that “we will know them by their fruits.”

Context matters. If we learn to read the Bible for what it is—and not as a collection of independent proverbial sayings—we will discover that some of our most familiar passages say something slightly different from what we have always assumed. That is certainly the case in Matthew seven.

Matthew seven does not teach against judgment; it teaches against hypocritical judgment. Pulling the words “judge not” out of context distorts the meaning and contradicts the rest of scripture. Jesus’s statement to “judge not lest you be judged” zeroed in on the problem of spiritual hypocrisy, especially among the Pharisees. They went around looking for every flaw in someone else, yet they overlooked or justified their own flaws. It was spiritual pride and hypocrisy. Jesus compared these offenses to giant logs that blind us to our own faults while we laser in on shortcomings in others. If we are going to judge the actions of another, expect to be judged by the same measuring stick.

Let me illustrate this using the true story of a famous evangelist. My purpose is not to slam the evangelist, but to show how easy it is to see in others what we will not deal with in ourselves. The evangelist was constantly digging for dirt on a well-known pastor. Finally, it was discovered that the pastor was indeed involved in an extra-marital affair. The well-known evangelist began to broadcast it publicly, which resulted in the pastor stepping away from his church and his ministry. Just a few months later, the same evangelist was caught with a prostitute. It seems the pastor also was watching the moves of the evangelist and had pictures of the evangelist showing his moral failure.

This fits the context of Matthew 7:1-5, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

The evangelist was judging the pastor, but not judging himself.

Jesus was not prohibiting judging each other, but that it been done fairly and with a right heart. God will measure unto us according to the same measure we use for others. This is a powerful motivation for us to be generous with love, forgiveness, and goodness to others. If we want more of those things from God, we should give more of them to others. Examine yourself before examining another. Deal with your stuff before you deal with another’s stuff.

Therefore, this verse is not a tool to ignore sinful lifestyles that do not line up with the Word of God. In fact, Jesus does not say that we should not judge the speck in the eye of another, but that we must first judge the plank in our own eye.

I would have to write an epistle to cover it all, but I cannot do that in this blog. However, the Apostle Paul wrote many epistles to the New Testament Church covering what is and is not appropriate behavior for a Christian. Go read those. I also recommend reading the entire Sermon on the Mount in context.

Context matters.

I have been to Arizona and California many times. While on those trips I drove through some real deserts. While in Egypt I traveled through one of the largest deserts I have ever seen. I know there are some people who love the desert, but I am not one of them. It is desolate, dry, sandy terrain, and hot, hot, hot! This goes on for miles and miles and miles and miles! Did I say it goes on for miles? Amazingly at night, cold winds will often blow. One can enjoy snakes, scorpions, lizards and all kinds of lovely creatures, and a cold wind. Ah, the desert – such an appealing place! Not really, but on my journey to a destination I have found myself in desert places.

Some are walking through the desert right now. Oh, not literally walking on hot sand and encountering snakes and scorpions, but still in a desert place. Perhaps you are in a dry, hot place with occasional cold, miserable winds. It goes on for miles and miles and miles and seems to never end. It can be such a lonely place.

In the Bible there are many who experienced the desert or wilderness including Jesus Himself. I seriously doubt any of them volunteered to be there! Yet, over and over, these great men and women of faith allowed their deserts to become defining moments in their lives. God spoke to them in the desert! God sustained them in the desert! God provided for them in the desert! God used the desert to prepare them for even greater usefulness! The hard place became a God-adventure for them. 

Do I want to be in the desert? NO! But God certainly allows it from time to time. When we find ourselves there, trust Him that it will become a God-adventure, a place where He will meet you, a place where He will speak. Trust Him to make it life-changing and spiritually empowering. Allow the Holy Spirit to make it a defining moment of growth.

You will walk out of the desert one day. How do I know? The Bible says “They were not thirsty when he led them through the desert. He divided the rock, and water gushed out for them to drink.” – Isaiah 48:21. He led them THROUGH. He did not leave them there. He will do the same for you.

“Your God will come to save you.” Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.” – Isaiah 35:4-6

Almost every morning, I start my day with a wonderful, magnificent cup of coffee. I have been through the season of drip coffee makers, pod coffee makers, and now I am back to a good old-fashioned percolator. The coffee is magnifico!

I must be careful throughout the day, because after that cup of coffee, I do not drink very much of anything. Since I rarely get thirsty, I must remind myself to drink all through the day. I have trained myself to drink flavored bubbly water, cold citrus tea, and at times, a couple of other beverages. I’m not usually thirsty, but when I am, the only thing that will satisfy that craving is water. When I am thirsty, I can gulp down an entire bottle of room-temperature water. Nothing else will quench my thirst.

It’s what I drink that determines whether my thirst will be quenched.

There is a story in John chapter four of Jesus encountering a Samaritan woman at a well. As the woman came to the well, she came for water to quench her thirst. That day would be different from all the other days she had been to the well. Read the story to give fresh vision to the exchange between the Samaritan and Jesus.

Jesus began to tell her about a water that would be living water, and she would never thirst again. Was Jesus saying she would never need the water from the well again? Not at all. The woman came to the well to get what she thought she needed, but Jesus came to the well to give her what she really needed.

I will not rehearse the entire story, but there is so much to see. We are told that this woman has been married five times and is presently living with a man who is not her husband. She did not tell Jesus this, Jesus told her this. I wonder if she gasped. I wonder if she hung her head. I wonder if she thought this was just another person who would make fun of her, ridicule her, or shame her.

Since the woman came in the middle of the day to get water, it is widely accepted that she did not want to be around others. One would normally come draw water early when it was not so hot, because that heavy jug filled with water would be a burden to take home. It would be even worse in the heat of the day.

How many times had she been shamed by others? She did not want to hear their snickers or see their looks of disgust as she approached the well. Maybe the townspeople made sure she knew her place!

We don’t even know if they knew her whole story. We do not know why she had been married so many times. Men could divorce a woman any time they wanted. They could divorce her because they did not like her cooking, her mother, or the way she looked. How many times had she been rejected and abandoned? Yet, she continued to try to find fulfillment in another relationship. If she could just find the right relationship, all would be well, but instead she repeatedly found sorrow, rejection, and shame.

It did not take the Samaritan woman long to find out that Jesus did not come to heap shame upon her, but He came to take shame from her. When Jesus started to speak with the woman and confront her issues, she changed the subject to religion. Jesus was not interested in discussing religion. Jesus came to give her freedom from the shame that had controlled her life.

Others had written her off, but not Jesus. The Bible tells us that He intentionally came through Samaria, and His intention was a divine appointment that would bring a life-changing, freedom-giving, shame-killing, joy-filling encounter to her life.

As I was thinking about this scripture story this morning, I thought about myself. When life is difficult, people are mean, things do not work out, the devil reminds me of my mistakes, or I feel left out, to what well do I run for relief? Where do I go when I am thirsty because life has parched my soul?

I have served the Lord for decades, and yet too often when life has parched me, I turn to the wrong well for a drink. Often our well of choice is shopping, or entertainment, or food, or social media, or relationships.  Those are not terrible things, but they are not the answer for a soul that is parched. It is so easy to turn to the wrong well, and when we do, we find that we are as parched as ever.

I ask you the same question I asked myself today. From which well will you drink when life is hard? We need to fight to drink from His well and allow nothing and no one to replace this source of living water. Don’t drink from the natural source of water in the wilderness of your soul, sit by the well of the Spirit and drink deeply from the water of life. Jesus is waiting at the well to have a conversation with you! Drink the good stuff.

“Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” – John 4:13-14

If you know me at all, you know that I am a happy camper when March rolls around! Daylight Savings Time has begun, which means the dark of night does not arrive until after 7:00 p.m.. In the winter it is a little before 5:00 p.m. when darkness arrives. Ugh for me!! 

Spring is one of the most beautiful and fragrant times of the year. The picture above is my street of residence and the Bradford pear trees are beautiful. We have hundreds of them in our neighborhood, creating a canopy of beautiful white blooms throughout our large neighborhood. What a beautiful sight to see these trees against the bright blue skyline.

The Bradford pear tree is beautiful, but they emit a stench that lingers for as long as the flowers last, making it unpleasant to be around until the flowers finally fall to the ground. The aroma causes one to have no desire to be near the beautiful-looking Bradford tree. The aroma does not match the tree.

The Bible has a lot to say about the aroma of a Christian. One verse tells us, “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” – 2 Corinthians 2:15.

As believers, we all give off an aroma that reaches the nostrils of God and the nostrils of those around us. As we live our lives, we can spread the sweet incense of Jesus. What an honor, but also a great responsibility. Is our aroma Christ-like? Would our smell of Christianity attract non-believers?

I have lived seven decades on the earth, and I do not recall a time when people had so much emptiness, unhappiness, and restlessness. Now is the time to stop looking like a beautiful Christian because you carry a Bible, attend church, give money, or many other things that are beautiful. Those things mean little if we do not give a beautiful aroma of the Christ who lives within us. We offer hope to the lost when we emit a life-giving perfume.

There is a Hawaiian saying, “Tiny is the flower, yet it scents the grasses around it.” What a great illustration of how the smallest things can have impactful results. The fact that the flower is small and seemingly insignificant does not keep it from spreading the fragrance it was created to share. In fact, often the smallest flower can have the most potent fragrance!

Never underestimate the power of your fragrant kindness, joy, encouragement, and peace. Smile at the clerk who does not seem nice to you. Speak a kind word to them. Be nice to that cranky neighbor. When others speak of how rotten the world is, agree with them but with a caveat. Yes, the world is kind of rotten these days, but Jesus gives me joy and peace in the midst of it all. Show up to help a neighbor in need. Stop with rude social posts. Be an encourager in word and deed. Give off the fragrance of Jesus that lives within you.

By giving off a sweet aroma of Christ, you might just entice someone to search for the source. Maybe they cannot quite figure out why you are different, but they do often notice an enticing aroma that makes you different. It is God’s love they are attracted to, which could be the beginning step to opening their heart to Jesus.

Don’t look beautiful as a Christian but emit rottenness. Who in your daily interaction needs to smell the aroma of Christ today? Use every opportunity to be a fragrant offering for Christ.

“Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. – Ephesians 5:2

Because my husband was a pastor for thirty-three years and a chaplain for eighteen years, we have stood with many people as they grieved the loss of a loved one. In most of these cases, the deceased person was a Christian believer, but that does not annihilate the pain of having a loved one no longer on the earth.

Death has been on my mind a whole lot during the month of February. On February eleventh, our family hit the twelve-year mark for the loss of our son Bryan. There were still a few tears that day as we talked about missing him. About three weeks ago, we lost my brother Wayne. Wayne lived in California for well over fifty years, so we rarely saw each other. In the months before his death, we reconnected talking by phone or texting. Neither of us had a clue that he would be gone so quickly. On February twenty-eighth, my brother-in-law Tony left this world after being married to my sister for nearly fifty-seven years. Tony was a man with a servant’s heart and loved his family deeply.

There is a possibility that before this year concludes, we will find ourselves back at the cemetery unless God chooses to change that. Additionally, we are praying with and ministering to families facing losses of children, spouses, dear friends, and family members. Some are in intense pain.

I am not sure if it has been taught or been caught, but there is a misleading twist on the scripture about death losing its sting. The Bible says, “where o death is your victory, where o death is your sting?”   We know that there is joy because our loved one, as a believer, is in the presence of the Lord. That is glorious and wonderful, but there is still the sting that those of us left behind feel. That verse does not tell us that death does not sting because we are Christians. It does sting, and the pain can be felt for years.

1 Corinthians 15: 54-55 says, “Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

That word “then” helps us to understand these verses. The word “then” connotes a time in the future. So, these verses are telling us that there will come a time in the future, after the last trumpet has sounded, when we will be able to finally say, “Death’s sting is gone!” 

I want the sting of death to be gone for all of us right now, but we are not there yet. For me and for some of you, death still stings. The pain is the ripping apart of interwoven hearts and brings a grief that knows no bounds.

For those who are feeling the fresh sting of death or a sting that has lasted for a while, it does not make you a weak Christian. God is not mad at you because you, as His child, dare to grieve. That is not our God! God is with you in the midst of all that pain.

It is amazing, when grief tries to be my steadfast companion on any given day, what faith in God can do. I have learned to pour out my thoughts and feelings to God. It really is true that, “The righteous cry, and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.” – Psalm 34:17-18.

We might feel the sting of death now, but the day will come when the sting will be gone! Just as the grave could not hold Jesus, it will be incapable of holding Christians. What a day of reunion that awaits us, and we will be able to shout the questions, ” Grave where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?” Both will be silent.

My husband is a gadget and tool guy. I have joked with him many times that if he died before me, I could sell his tools and travel the world with the proceeds! If you need a drill, we have several. If you need big screwdrivers, little screwdrivers, Phillips head screwdrivers, or flat head screwdrivers, we have them in many sizes! Need a wrench? We have scores from which to choose!

In our garage sits a brand-new power washer that will soon be used for spring cleaning. We have quite a bit of driveway space and patio space that needs a good power wash. It’s not that we went outside and intentionally made it a point to dirty the driveway and the patio.  The fact that those spaces are in the world affords the opportunity for things to accumulate on them, and it takes power to make them clean. It takes time for the gunk to accumulate. It happens over a period of time when regular washing does not occur.

Recently in our neighborhood, I noticed a wood fence that was being power washed. The owner of the home did not go out and throw dirt, mold, and mildew on the fence.  The fence simply existed in this world, and the filth attached itself to the structure. The owner finally decided one day that it was time to stop neglecting what the atmosphere had done to his fence. Once aimed at the fence, the power washer stripped away years of grime, gunk, mildew, mold, and dirt. The difference was amazing.

Because we live in this world, we can find that the world tries to attach itself to us. We do not live in a bubble. It is so easy for worldly attitudes to seep into our minds, attitudes that do not line up with the Word of God. We are challenged on an almost-daily basis to accept the world’s view instead of the Word’s view.

There have been too many people in the Body of Christ that have allowed the world’s influence to change what they believe. Sadly, many leaders have compromised the truth so they can be acceptable to the world. A pastor and I were discussing a hot-button topic, and he literally said to me, “I know that is what the Bible teaches, but I don’t agree with it.” 

God’s word is our final authority. Scripture is the authoritative record that our Holy God has given His people. When I take a good look at my life, I must ask, “Has anything ungodly attached itself to me?”

We all need the “power washing” of the Holy Spirit from time to time. It is not necessarily that we have intentionally decided to walk in the filth of the world. The truth is that we are bombarded by ways that are contrary to God’s ways.

We need the Holy Spirit to power wash us. Like the Psalmist we need to pray, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Holy Spirit, I ask you to power wash me. It will not be easy or painless, but if you ask the Lord to “power wash” your soul, get ready for the gunk to start flying away.

I am a problem solver. When I see situations that require a solution, I immediately set my brain into action to produce a solution. There is a very good side to that, but it sure can affect my prayer life. When solutions are needed, I will go to God with the problem … AND THE SOLUTION!

There are many concerns on my mind these days – my family, our country, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the rise of evil. I was recently praying for my family which was heavy on my heart that day. I prayed and presented God with some really good ideas about how to change the situation and the time limit in which it needed to be done. Okay, God, here are multiple choices. Just sign off on one of them, okay?

Having walked with the Lord for fifty-five years, I know not to tell God how to do it. It is something that I still must guard against doing.

God has given us a reminder in His Word that neither His thoughts nor His ways are like ours. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9

• For My thoughts are not your thoughts: God does not think the way we do.
• Nor are your ways My ways: God does not act the way we do. He does things His way, and His ways are often not our ways.
• For as the heavens are higher than the earth: How far is the distance between God’s thoughts and ours? How far is the distance between His ways and ours? The distance is as great as the heavens are higher than the earth.

One of the greatest demonstrations of Isaiah 55:8-9 is found in Joshua chapter six, which we know as the walls of Jericho falling. Joshua and the Israelites had a major problem. There was an enormous wall impeding their journey to the promised land. What were they going to do?

There were tens of thousands of Israelites present, so I wonder how many ideas there were to get around or over those walls? Yet, not one of them produced the idea to march around the walls once each day for six days and seven times on the seventh day. And not one of them said and while we are at it, let’s not say a word. No one added, and at the conclusion of the seventh march on the seventh day, shout loudly, and the walls will crumble.

No one came up with that plan. But God did. They walked in obedience with God’s plan, the walls fell flat, and victory belonged to God’s people.

God was certainly capable of waving His hand over Jericho and collapsing the wall. I would have told God to do it that way. This miracle was beyond normal expectation; no other city had been conquered this way. Israel could not depend on their prior experiences. All they had was God’s promise that the city would be theirs, and that promise was enough. God’s thoughts and ways were higher than any thoughts the Israelites managed to think.

The victory of God’s people never hinged on their ability or any of their well-thought-out plans. It was solely dependent on their unwavering obedience to their mighty God. They could have stopped after day two or day five or at any point. Instead, they chose to trust God when His ways and thoughts were higher than theirs.

What situations are you facing that seem insurmountable? I have some that are way beyond my problem-solving skills. I know that God can instantly change things, but if He chooses to do it in a way beyond my wildest thoughts, so be it. He is God, and He is good.

Let us not stop short of our victory with God. As we surrender to His plan, we set aside our earth-bound thoughts and allow His higher thoughts to direct our paths. He is working even when we do not see Him working. He is present in our situations. His plan is still good, and He can still be trusted.

As God writes the story of our lives, it is not just an ordinary story. He is writing the masterpiece of all masterpieces. We might not see it clearly now, but we can trust Him because His thoughts are not like our thoughts and His ways are not like our ways. They are higher. They are better. Infinitely so.

I plan to trust God’s higher ways. How about you?

With so much going on in our lives, I let my emails mount up something ferocious. I kept saying I will deal with this later. Finally, several weeks ago, I sat down to go through them. I had hundreds of emails in my inbox folder, my deleted folder, my spam folder, and my trash folder. Some dated back years. It took me hours to clean up the mess.

I sat down and clicked and clicked and clicked until all things were in order, and I learned a lesson. Since that time, I deal with things as they come. I get rid of things that don’t need to be on my computer, the junk that is taking up space. I spend time keeping the valuable things, the things that are important. I plan for this to be the pattern of my computer life! Now that I am doing it faithfully, I am not overwhelmed.

The thing that seems to plague Christians more than anything else is busyness. “How are you doing?” our friends ask us. “Busy!” we reply, waiting for the gold medal we think we will receive as a result our busyness.

Yes, we are busy with family, busy serving and leading, but the mad-dash schedule of one thing after the next does not leave us with any room to rest or be restored. We find ourselves running on empty and have the frazzled nerves to prove it.

Psalm 39:6 sums up one of my greatest fears for us Christians in our hectic world: “We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing” (Psalm 39:6 NLT). Doesn’t that almost give you chills? Merely moving shadows. Busy rushing that ends in nothing.

Too often we are too busy to take time daily to sit with God and get rid of the things that have accumulated, things that do not need to hang around. We are also too busy to take time for the valuable things like sitting in God’s presence, reading scripture, singing songs to Him, and allowing the Holy Spirit to impart strength for the day.

I know this is not a “barnburner” devotion and yet it is one of the most important you can read and heed. If we do not do this, we become overwhelmed with life, and miss the very One who gives life and that more abundantly. Don’t miss the main thing because of busyness.

The Bible teaches us another way to live: to keep our hearts and our minds focused on the things that really matter in our lives. The Psalmist said, “LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered – how fleeting my life is.” (Psalm 39:4).

Busyness by itself is not wrong, but busyness doesn’t satisfy. Pray that God will guard you from the busyness that leaves no time for Him. You can feel so overwhelmed if you look at all you are facing over the next few weeks. Take even a few minutes to pray, ask God’s peace and wisdom, and invite God into each day. It’s time to stop being too busy for what really matters. We experience much greater joy when we realize that busyness is not a spiritual gift.

As I sit in Hickory, NC, I have been reminiscing about our life here. Gaylon was a pastor in Hickory for eight years. We still have friendships that have lasted more than thirty years. I am talking about the kind of friendships where you stay in touch regularly, sometimes travel together, and lean on each other. When you find those friendships, they are a treasure.

Gaylon and I are in Hickory visiting our grandson Tucker who is eleven going on twenty-one! Tucker is such a joy. As I watch his laughter, it makes me think of his father Bryan. Bryan was a jovial, humorous, larger-than-life personality. Tucker is definitely a chip off the old block.

Many of you reading this know that Bryan passed away three months before Tucker was born. To say that was a challenging time would be an understatement. Bryan was so thrilled that he was having a son, and he even put together Tucker’s crib, not knowing he would never see his boy sleep in that crib. The pain of that period was close to unbearable for all of our family, especially for Bryan’s wife.

Were there tears and sorrow? Boatloads. I would not have chosen this path, but today, I came to testify of the goodness and sustaining power of God. Our faith in God remained strong even though our pain was great. We had no idea what the future would look like, but we knew God was holding us. Faith was not a feeling, but a choice.

Walking with God through deep pain and heartaches has taught me more about his faithfulness than any sermon or Bible verse. He has used that grief for good. I did not say grief is good, or that God caused death to bring good, but without hesitation I can say that God has used grief for good. He is the God of redemption. He is the God who brings beauty from ashes.

So often we hear the phrase “God is good” in the context of a wonderful event that took place. “God is good” is often an amen to everything going our way. But God is good even when times are bad. The truth is, God is good because that is His character, not because of anything good that I may be experiencing now. God’s goodness is independent of my circumstances. His goodness is not dependent on my health, wealth, or prosperity. One will be sorely disappointed if they think serving God means only good circumstances will flow. He is simply good. In fact, twelve years after Bryan’s death, I see how God has been with us, how He has strengthened us, how He has used us. Yes, even after catastrophic, unexplainable events in life, God is good.

Is the path before you hard today? God is good. He will not let you walk it alone. God is not absent, and He will not forsake you. He is fully aware of what is happening to you. Choose faith. Accept the treasure of Emmanuel – God is with us!

I look at Mr. Tucker Bryan Benton and say, “God is good! God is faithful! Blessed be the name of the Lord!”

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”-Psalm 34:8.